New York Times: On Immigration, G.O.P. Starts to Embrace Tea Party

Wanted to make sure you saw today’s article in the New York Times that discusses how the far-right wing of the GOP continues to control their party on immigration, even though the majority of Republicans and the American public disagrees with their hard-line stance:

“But on Capitol Hill, the Tea Party wing continues to drive the party’s agenda. Last winter, as House Republican leaders drafted their ‘principles’ for immigration overhaul, they largely disregarded the opponents of any form of legal status for immigrants in the country illegally, dismissing them as a loud but small minority. When that faction vocally opposed the principles, Mr. Boehner put the effort in cold storage rather than highlight the divisions in his conference — even as he mocked Republicans who feared moving forward with immigration legislation.”

“With Democrats united in opposition and Republicans divided, Republican leaders dropped plans to pass a stripped-down border-control spending bill. But most House Republicans did not want to leave Washington without addressing the crisis at the border. During a boisterous, closed-door meeting, mainstream Republicans vented their anger at immigration hard-liners, accusing them of scuttling the leadership’s bills just because they could. In a surprise move, Mr. Boehner turned to the hard-liners he had sidelined."

“Regardless, Mr. Gutierrez said, political damage was done. Complexities of immigration law that slip by most of the American news media remain front and center on Spanish television, where news figures such as Jorge Ramos advocate immigration overhaul positions, he said. And little-known lawmakers like Mr. King and Mr. Brooks are not so obscure among Latinos.”

“Just days after helping write the House’s only immigration policy bill of the year, Mr. Brooks made waves again when he spoke of a ‘war on whites that’s being launched by the Democratic Party’ to the conservative radio show host Laura Ingraham. Mr. King was caught on tape grabbing the arm of a young immigrant who grew up in Arizona and was granted legal status by the president’s order. ‘You’re very good at English, you know what I’m saying?’ he told the immigrant, a graduate of Arizona State University.”

“Mr. Gutierrez said: ‘We have destroyed tens of thousands of young lives, people who don’t speak Spanish, who have lived their whole lives here, who want to be productive members of society, and now Steve King is rewriting DACA? I just think that is a real shame.’”

“‘Before now, our leadership was looking at what can pass in the Senate,’ Mr. Labrador said. ‘That’s not my concern. I want the most conservative piece of legislation that can pass the House.’”